The Fairy Tales Collection Read Free

again.  “Wh-what do we
do?”
    There was no reply and she glanced at him,
a small squeak of surprise emerging from her throat.
    The shift was happening, his bear reacting
to the threat, and he dropped Belle’s hand as fur sprouted on his face and
arms.
    “Ben?  What’s happening to you?”  She
moaned.
    His bones cracked and he fell to his knees
as the cougar made a soft hissing noise before yowling.
    “Run,” Ben growled as his teeth lengthened
and his body swelled.  “Run, Mirabelle.  Run!”
    She backed away as he shifted completely to
his bear form before dropping her backpack and the rose and fleeing.  The
cougar yowled again and chased after her.  Ben roared angrily when the cougar
swiped at her.  Its claws tore through her t-shirt and blood welled up on her
back as she screamed in pain.  She was knocked off her feet.  Her glasses flew from
her face as she landed on the hard ground.  Ben roared again as the cougar
crouched over her.  He leaped onto the cougar’s back, tearing at the back of
its neck with his fangs as his claws sank through the thick fur to gouge and
tear at its skin.  The cougar screamed angrily and shook its large body,
dislodging Ben like a troublesome fly.  He landed on the ground with a harsh
thud and rolled to his feet, growling loudly.  The cougar stared at him before
crouching.  Fear flooded through him but he ignored it and growled again.  He
had to keep the cougar from hurting Mirabelle.  That was all that mattered.
    The cougar’s body tensed and Ben rose to
his hind feet.  He was going to die but maybe Mirabelle could get away while
the cougar attacked him.  He roared again as the cougar sprang forward.  A
gunshot rang out and the cougar’s body landed on him with a heavy thud,
knocking him to the ground.  Blood poured from a crater-sized hole in its head
and he scrambled free of its body, staring wide-eyed at the man standing next
to Belle.
    “Shift, little bear,” he said as he knelt
next to Belle.
    Bennett shifted with a quiet pop and swiped
at the blood smeared across his chest before lunging forward.
    “Is she dead?”  He cried as he fell to his
knees beside Belle. Blood was pouring from her back and he made a harsh cry of
dismay.  Belle turned her head and blinked blearily at him.
    “Ben?”  She whispered.  “You – you’re a
bear.”
    A combination of relief and fear flooded
through him as the man touched his arm lightly.  “Move back, little bear.”
    He watched helplessly as the man removed
his jacket and pressed it against Belle’s back.  She screamed in pain and he
echoed her cry as her eyes rolled up in her head and she slumped against the
ground.
    “She’s dead!”  Bennett shouted as his bear
surged forward.
    “Calm yourself,” the man said before
reaching out and shaking him roughly.  “She’s not dead yet.”
    He shouldered his rifle and Belle’s
backpack before carefully lifting Belle into his arms.  “Go home now.”
    “No, I can’t!  I have to make sure she’s –
“
    The man shook his head.  “I’m taking her to
the hospital.  You need to go home.”
    “I’m going with you!”
    “No, little bear.  You have no clothes and
no control over your shifting right now.  Go home.  I’ll keep her safe.”
    Bennett stared wide-eyed at him and the man
smiled reassuringly.  “Quickly, now.  I need to get her to the hospital or
she’s going to die.  Go on.”
    “Do you promise to help her?”  Ben
whispered.
    “I promise.  Run, little bear.”
    The man turned and, holding Belle’s
unconscious body tightly, ran quickly through the forest.  Ben, tears streaming
down his face, watched him disappear before gently scooping up the fallen rose
he had picked for Belle.  Holding the stem lightly in his teeth, he shifted to
his bear form and raced toward home.
     
    * * *
     
    The young man knocked twice on the massive
wooden door.  It opened after only a few moments and the woman, she was large
and broad